“Mohammed Akbar from governmental public affairs.”
“Please have a seat.” The aide motioned for George to take a chair as he went into Mohsen’s office. He returned in seconds and beckoned. Then he left the two alone.
Mohsen was in good spirits. He smiled and offered George a seat. “I am always pleased to see my brothers who work in the other parts of the government. What can I do for public relations today, Mr. Akbar?”
George felt an incredible urge to blurt it all out. He moved his chair closer to Mohsen’s desk and watched him respond with a serious look. “I came to caution you, good captain.”
Mohsen obviously didn’t like the opening tone of the conversation. “Caution me?”
“About the submarine.”
Mohsen was flabbergasted. He had to assume that George knew it all. He didn’t dare test him, and he didn’t have a response for some time. He leaned back and tried to regain his composure. “Does anyone else know?”
“A few people. We are concerned that the money will be run off with.”
This surprised Mohsen. He expected a rejection of the plan outright. He expected it to be exposed to the world, but George only indicated that he was worried about getting taken. It seemed to be a mild form of consent. “So you approve?”
George shrugged. “We try to look out for the country’s interest.”
“Did the emir send you?”
“The emir knows nothing about us.”
That was welcome news. Mohsen had to keep George a secret. The emir would shit goats if he knew that information had leaked. “How did you find out?”
“That’s not important. I represent interested parties. I am here to make sure the deal goes through. It’s business.”
“You can’t. The timetable has already been set. We are moving very soon.”
“Then you will have to make room for one more. Don’t test me, Mohsen. You don’t know what will happen.” George felt the man panic, and he enjoyed it. Mohsen was in no position to bargain. George would be along for the ride whether Mohsen liked it or not.
Beth was making lunch for herself when Sharon came bouncing through the door of their town house. “You’re home early.”
“Dan gave me the day off. In fact, he said I could take a little vacation.”
“Sharon,” Beth said crossly. “We were supposed to schedule our vacations at the same time.”
“I know, but this is different. We can still do that. Dan’s working on something extremely sensitive, and I’m out of the loop.”
“Oh. That’s why you’re happy.”
Sharon grinned again. “I told him.”
“Told him?”
“I came out of the closet. I wanted to tell him after Levi threatened me, and Dan didn’t care.”
What pleased Sharon sent alarm bells ringing for Beth. At times, she could be insanely jealous, and she didn’t like the idea of Sharon getting too chummy with her boss. “You told him you were gay, and then he let you go for a few days?”
“Yes.”
“Sharon, he doesn’t trust you. He found out you were gay, and he sent you away while he looks for a replacement.”
Sharon couldn’t accept what Beth implied. She had known Dan too long not to believe him. “Well, I don’t think Dan would do that…”
“Think, stupid!” Beth was angry and afraid — afraid of losing her lover. “You know what people think about the gay community.”
“Beth, Dan is different. He really doesn’t care.” Sharon didn’t enjoy Beth’s tone. She tried not to get upset.
“What now? You’re out of the closet? Can you finally deal with who you are? Sharon, half the time I think that you’re not sure if you’re gay.”
“I have a hard time dealing with it. Harder than most because I still have men treat me extremely well. Not all of them are bad.” She retaliated by saying things she knew would hurt Beth. There also was some truth in what she said.
“You little cunt! How can you say that to me! I’ve treated you as well as anyone on the face of the earth. Better even. I see it now. You’re a little girl with a sexual identity crisis. You never understood what it’s really like to be gay. To live with it. You can switch back. Well, I can’t, Sharon, and I refuse to let it seem like some kind of burden! It’s who I am, and if you can’t figure out what you are, then leave.”
Sharon burst into tears and ran for the bedroom. Beth realized her mistake and jogged after her, trying to apologize. “I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean it.” She found Sharon weeping on the bed.
Beth closed the door and went to comfort her. “I really didn’t mean it, Sharon. I just don’t want to lose you.”
“The plan seems a little desperate.” Nick said it with a smile, yet he meant every word.
Sukudo understood. “It is desperate. The CIA doesn’t have an agent positioned for something like this. We have to rely on others.”
Both men stood at the back of a C-141 cargo plane. It was warming its engines while the crew was securing the craft for takeoff. Inside its huge bay sat a sailplane — a black recreational glider with its wings folded over its back. The glider had been modified with hydraulic swivels to pull the wings forward into a normal flight position.
Nick gave Sukudo an apprehensive look. The project seemed larger than what he had been told. He understood the “need to know” scenario, but he wished he knew everything. “Can I back out now?”
Sukudo threw Nick’s ditty bag on the plane. “Have a little faith. This may not even happen.”
“How many times have I heard that?” Nick rolled a quarter between his fingers as he stepped on the gate of the plane. “Don’t forget me when I’m ready to come home.” The engines revved, and the C-141 began rolling toward the runway. Nick dragged his ditty bag inside, and the gate shut completely.
Sukudo stayed on the tarmac until the plane took off. The thing he couldn’t get out of his mind was why Mikhail had not stopped Nick from going on such a dangerous mission. Any grandfather would have intervened a long time ago. Obviously Mikhail thought the sub was dangerous. More dangerous then he let on. How it would end up was anybody’s guess.
“Conn, sonar, bearing one-five-three.” The sonar supervisor peered over the operator’s shoulder, watching the image on the screen. “Looks like a pig and sounds like a pig. Signature matches the America.”
Jim stood on the bridge and listened to the relay. “That’s who it is.” He entered the RRCC (Radar/Radio Communications Center). “Those guys don’t even realize we’re right under them.”
Josh was finishing tearing apart the radio counsel and wiring ODIS to the sub. “Here I thought that I worked on the most sophisticated equipment. Boy, was I wrong.”
Jim smiled. “We do like to keep on top of things.”
Josh bolted the panel back in place and flipped on ODIS. The screen sputtered and blipped, then came to life with the image of the Tyrrhenian Sea. “What the fuck? You’re not supposed to be there.”
“Problems?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be ready when you need me.” The screen blinked again then went out. “Can you come up a few feet?”
“Captain to the bridge. Come to three hundred.”
“Three hundred, aye.”
The attitude of the War Eagle shifted as the ship rose. ODIS’s screen came back, and Josh secured the case on the console.
“Three hundred is about as deep as we can go before I lose him.”
“Where we’re going that’s about as deep as it’s going to get.” Jim slapped him on the shoulder and left the RRCC.
Two ensigns, O’Neil and McLeary, who looked about nineteen, pulled duty in the RRCC at this time. They were quite annoyed that some one-eyed flyboy had torn apart their gear, but when Josh flipped on ODIS, they became intrigued.